A Writer You Should Know (& read) About: Daniel Alarcon

In 2007 I had the privilege of assisting to a reading by three up and coming young authors. It took place during the Miami Book Fair Internation, which is hosted every year by Miami Dade College. Without knowing and I must say that it happens to me quite often, I was listening to an artist who would soon explode into the literary world as one of the young promises of contemporary Latin American writers.

The panel was titled "39 under 39" or something of that kind, the reference being a showcase of the 39 most exciting and promising young writers under 39 years of age. I do not remember the names of the two other writers, although I believe one of them was a young and attractive Cuban American woman and the other may or may not have been a Mexican writer. However, Daniel Alarcon stood solidly in my mind, especially the uncanny title of his book: "Lost City Radio". So much it stuck that a few months later when browsing through the Spanish section of a book store trying to find the book I found out that my chances of finding a copy of Alarcon's debut novel were little to none. Not because they were not published or the run was too limited for distribution, but rather because his novel, Lost City Radio was written, edited and published in English.



Alarcon, a Peruvian born Californian was named this past summer in The New Yorker's 20 under 40 list of the best writers that have not reached the four decades of existence. His writing is natural and refreshing, with a tone of universality that transcends languages, yet curiously familiar for young people who have lived in Latin American at any given time. Although, Alarcon emigrated to the U.S. at a very young age, raised and schooled in the U.S., the cultural ambiance of his writing and the vivid depiction of Latin American ethos is so palpable that it is not lost in translation.

Here is a short story published in the August 16th issue of The New York titled "Second Lives"

For more on Daniel Alarcon and other young Latin American writers click here